


Glitter, Rainbows, and Revelations

by Zoejoy24



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Bisexuality, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gay Pride, Glitter, Multi, Older Man/Younger Man, Pre-Relationship, Pride Parades, Prodigal Son Trash Pride Bingo, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:33:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25019326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoejoy24/pseuds/Zoejoy24
Summary: Malcolm lost a bet, and finds himself accompanying Ainsely to a Pride Parade, much to his own chagrin, and once there he's met with a series of revelations that just might change the rest of his life.Written for the Pride Parade square on the Prodigal Son Trash Server Pride Bingo Card.
Relationships: Dani Powell/Ainsley Whitly, Gil Arroyo/Malcolm Bright
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20
Collections: Prodigal Son Pride Bingo





	Glitter, Rainbows, and Revelations

**Author's Note:**

> I had no intention of actually making these bingo fics connected, however, I've just decided that they are, in fact, in the same universe, and will be posted chronologically. So this takes place after i don't wanna be your friend. You don't need to read it for this to make sense though, but you should, cause it's cute.
> 
> With that being said, this one is a little open-ended, to be continued in the next installment of the series!

Malcolm inhales deeply, centering himself as he presses the balls of his feet into his yoga mat, moving smoothly from one position into the next. He focuses on his body, the stretch and burn of his muscles as he holds himself steady and focuses on taking slow, measured breaths, refusing to let his mind wander towards darker things. It’s easy to let his focus slip—he’s gone through these motions so many times he could probably do it in his sleep.  _ If _ he slept, that is. But, he keeps his mind centered, along with his body.

The obnoxious buzz of his doorbell cuts through the calm, startling him enough that he loses his balance. A second later his phone pings and a text from Ainsley appears on the screen. Malcolm makes his way to the door and jams in the button for the intercom.

“You know, most people text before they arrive, not after,” he says by way of greeting.

“Whatever, bro. You gonna let me up?” Ainsley replies, voice tinny as it filters through the outdated speaker. 

Malcolm sighs but buzzes her in, throwing the locks on his apartment door open before ambling back to roll up his mat, accepting with another sigh that his yoga routine is clearly finished for the morning. 

He hears the door opening as he’s stashing his mat in it’s spot under the stairs, and turns to ask his little sister what it is she wants from him this time. His question dies on his lips when he sees what she’s wearing, and instead he ends up asking, “Ainsley, what the hell?”

Ainsley rolls her eyes dramatically, then flips her hair and does a little twirl. “What do you think? Parade appropriate?”

Malcolm huffs out a laugh. Of course, that’s today. The high-waisted jean shorts with a fringe made of strands of beads in a rainbow of colors, and the black bandeau covered by a white leather jacket striped in bright neon colors makes much more sense. Not to mention the purple and pink streaks in her hair and the glitter covering almost every inch of skin he can see.

Then, Ainsley holds out the large canvas shopping bag that's been hanging off her shoulder and shakes it at him, a huge smile spreading across her face, and a wicked gleam in her eye. Malcolm's own grin disappears instantly as he suddenly remembers the bet he'd lost months ago, and what he'd agreed to do as a result of his defeat.

"Look, Ainsley, this really isn't a good day…" he begins, backing away from her as he glances wildly around the apartment, looking for any excuse he can find to get out of their bargain.

"No way, big brother. I won fair and square and I know for a fact you don't have a case, and don't even  _ try _ to tell me you suddenly have a social life. Now here," she thrusts the bag toward him, "put these on. I don't want to be late. Chop chop."

Malcolm groans, but takes the bag. He  _ did _ agree to this, of his own free will, and Ainsley had won the bet (JT and Tally were having a girl. Malcolm still doesn't know how Ainsley had been so sure, but she had him dead to rights). He trudges to the bathroom in defeat and shuts the door with just a little more force than is necessary. He drops the bag on the floor and strips out of his workout clothes. He'd barely started to work up a sweat, but out of spite he takes a quick shower anyways. He towels off, and, no longer able to delay the inevitable, reaches into the bag to see what Ainsley brought for him to wear.

"Ainsley, you have to be kidding me!" he calls out as he pulls out the first item, loud enough that he knows she can hear him even through the door.

"It's fine!" she yells back, and it sounds like she's standing right outside. "The shirt will cover the shorts, I promise. Just hurry up and get dressed!"

Malcolm groans in absolute despair, but pulls on the tight, very short, very sparkly silver shorts anyways, knowing he doesn't have a choice. The shirt is mercifully plain—a well-worn white tee with a slightly faded gay pride flag waving on the front—and as Ainsley had promised it's large enough that it falls past the shorts, covering his ass and groin and making him feel a little less exposed. He pulls the knee high rainbow socks out of the bag, taking them with him as he leaves the bathroom. He refuses to meet Ainsley's eyes, but a quick glance shows that she's smiling wider than he's seen her smile in a long time, and that in itself almost makes it worth it. Almost.

They take a cab to the parade route. He steps out of the cab behind her, and as soon as the door has shut she sprinkles a handful of glitter that seemingly appears out of nowhere all over the top of his head. He raises one unimpressed eyebrow, and she  _ giggles _ . 

Ainsley seems to know exactly where she wants to go, and Malcolm follows, head ducked, cheeks flaming. He's never been ashamed of being gay, never denied it when the topic came up, it’s not about  _ that _ . Years in the media spotlight as a child had driven away any desire he’d ever had for attention, especially in public. This is  _ not _ his happy place. But Ainsley is thriving, and he grins and bears it, for her.

Suddenly, Ainsley is squealing in delight and rushing ahead, towards…

_ Dani _ ?

They two women embrace, and then, to Malcolm's utter shock, Dani pecks his sister on the lips, and when they separate their hands stay intertwined. 

"Oh," he remarks when he reaches him.

Dani looks unsure for one brief moment, until she takes in his outfit, and whatever misgivings she'd had die as she lets out a loud bark of delighted laughter. Malcolm shrugs, blushing slightly and rubbing the back of his neck as he smiles back at her.

"You kids behaving?" a deep, familiar voice asks from behind him and Malcolm whirls, mouth dropping open in stunned surprise as he turns to face Gil. 

"Hey, kid. Looking good," Gil says, his voice softer now as he speaks just to Malcolm. 

Malcolm opens and closes his mouth several times as he tries to formulate a coherent response to Gil's presence, and his comment. As he scrambles for words, he has time to notice several things; Gil is dressed casually in faded jeans and an old Yankees shirt with torn off sleeves that's just this side of too tight. He has a little flag painted on either cheek—gay pride on one, bi pride on the other—and Malcolm is pretty sure there’s glitter in his beard. And, Gil’s eyes are traveling slowly up and down Malcolm's body in a frank and appreciative gaze that drives the breath from Malcolm's lungs and steals whatever vestiges of coherency had been left in his brain.

"What?" he whispers, eyes searching Gil's face for some sort of clue as to what in the hell is going on. 

The older man reaches out to grasp the back of his neck and smiles down at him. “When Ainsley told me she’d roped you in to coming today I knew I had to join. I may have let it slip to Gil when I asked for the day off, and…” Dani explains, somewhat, as she and Ainsley step over to stand beside Malcolm and Gil.

“I wouldn’t have missed this for the world,” Gil adds, giving Malcolm a little shake.

“Uh, okay,” is all that Malcolm manages. He looks over at Ainsley, eyes wide as he struggles to come to terms with this series of revelations.

She’s smiling, softly now, as she looks back and forth between Gil and Malcolm, joy and just the hint of self-satisfaction sparkling in her eyes, and Malcolm starts to think he’s been missing something…

“C’mon, bro. We’ve got a parade to see,” she says, knocking into his shoulder with her own, hard enough to knock him off balance and send him stumbling, straight into Gil’s side. 

Gil slides his hand smoothly from his neck across to his shoulder and pulls him in to a tight side hug. “We’ll talk later,” he whispers into Malcolm’s ear, and Malcolm can only nod dumbly in response.

As they walk together, Dani and Ainsley in front, hands clasped tightly, Malcolm and Gil following behind, Gil’s arm still slung loosely over Malcolm’s shoulders, Malcolm finds that he doesn’t quite mind the crowd as much as he thought he would, and thinks that he might have found his happy place after all.


End file.
